NEWS FLASH!!! Day 3 at Riyadh Travel Fair 2017

The Kingdom of Bahrain launched its new tourism identity under the slogan of ‘Ours. Yours’ in a step to further develop the tourism sector as a main contributor to the national economy. The new brand embraces the country’s biggest asset, its people – their warmth and welcoming attitude. The Bahrain Tourism and Authority also has recently launched seven representative offices with an aim of increasing the Kingdom of Bahrain’s share of the international travel market. The offices are located in KSA, India, China, France, Germany, UK and Russia.

Sally Sedky, Marketing & Tourism Promotion Directorate says “It’s the culmination of our efforts to develop an integrated strategic approach towards elevating the industry by attracting investors and providing a suitable environment to incubate tourism projects. Our strategy is based on four pillars ‘awareness, attraction, access and accommodation”.

Within its efforts to boost the tourism sector, the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority have invested in a number of projects that aim at highlighting and developing the island's tourist potentials and ultimately place Bahrain on the international map of travel. Manama was declared as the Capital of Gulf Tourism 2016, the announcement came during GCC Tourism Ministers meeting, as part of the ongoing endeavors to boost internal tourism among GCC states. Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority has created a year-long calendar of events to promote the Kingdom as one of the main tourist destinations in the region.

Predicting the businesses in 2017, Sally says: “We are working on developing a calendar of events with international partners. In terms of accommodation, there are currently 17,000 rooms, as of 2015, and BTEA is going to work on enhancing that to 18,700 by 2018. Since, awareness and marketing are crucial to a successful tourism strategy, the representative offices will assist with promoting Bahrain as an ideal destination in order to increase the flow of tourists.”

Taiwan Tourism eyes on more developments to attract travellers

As tourism has become increasingly important in recent years due to rapid economic prosperity and continued improvement in living standards the government has been engaged in tourism development. Such developments will not only can provide more variety for leisure life, but also can enrich its content and help expand people's horizons.

In addition to opening five national parks, the government has also mapped out its medium and long term tourism development programs. The major objectives are:

(1) The planning and development of scenic spots

(2) The protection and utilization of tourism resources, and

(3) The management of these tourist attractions

In order to develop tourism and travel in Taiwan, the Provincial Government is continuing to organize the planning and construction of new scenic areas, the West Coast highway travel and leisure system, the Central Taiwan North south highway travel and leisure system, and hot spring scenic areas; to strengthen measures to ensure travel safety; to encourage counties and cities to set up tourism associations to strengthen tourism industry management and employee training; and to actively promote the healthy development of the domestic travel industry.

Says Parul Asthana, representative of Taiwan Tourism Bureau in UAE “We are focusing to promote Taiwan as a year round destination. Situated in East Asia at the northwestern edge of the Pacific, it possess an endless variety of terrains, forests, agricultural products, and marine ecologies, as well as a diversity of ethnic cultures along with enchanting human customs and practices.  Blessed with a diverse range of exquisite beauties, each corner of the island have its own unique scenery filled with local stories and touching moods. Visit Taiwan and experience its island life, to tour around this beautiful island, this secret realm for travelers, this repository of culture, and enjoy an encounter with the warm friendliness of the island’s people”

Bursa is the capital city of the Ottoman Empire having history of 700 years old!

Bursa is an important destination with its historical, touristic and religious places as well as its varied shopping facilities both for domestic tourists and foreign tourists. Incoming tourists from Saudi Arabia is rapidly growing each year and it is a pleasure to host our guests with all of our entities related to tourism, makes us more motivated for the following years.

Says Yunus Fatih KADİROĞLU, Deputy Secretary General of Bursa Eskişehir Bilecik, “Bursa's geographical structure is an important tourism destination with its important tourist attractions which will attract tourists from Riyadh. Culture, thermal, winter, nature, gastronomy and Adventure tourism opportunities will be the top trends in Bursa as it was in the past years. In World Heritage City Bursa, where you can enjoy the history in UNESCO protected sites, in a very short period of time, you might be enjoying nature and ski in Uludag (Olympos Mountain) after a 20 mins of cable car travel. With its tourism variety, Bursa welcomes you ‘four seasons’ for a holiday.”

As Bursa being the first capital city of the Ottoman Empire and the village of Cumalıkızık having a 700 year history, in 2014, Bursa was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status with its 8 sights under headline “Bursa and Cumalıkızık: the Birth of the Ottoman Empire.  

Besides this, Bursa is the one and only city from Turkey which is a member of “European Historic Thermal Towns Association”. Thermal springs are widely available and serving for thermal cure and wellness. 

Sri Lanka the wonder of Asia

Sri Lanka offers travelers a remarkable combination of stunning landscapes, pristine beaches, captivating cultural heritage and unique experiences within it’s a compact location.  Within a mere area of  65,610 kilometres lie 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 1,330 kilometres of coastline - much of it pristine beach - 15 national parks showcasing an abundance of wildlife, nearly 500,000 acres of lush tea estates, 250 acres of botanical gardens, 350 waterfalls, 25,000 water bodies, to a culture that extends back to over 2,500 years.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion bureau plays the key role in promoting and marketing Sri Lanka as a tourist and travel destination both in local & global. Sri Lanka Tourism is active in 20 key markets, promoting the unique island treasures of nature, culture and adventure which will entice people to visit and re-visit. Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions bureau is mainly conduct activities including advertising, Public Relations and media programs, trade shows and industry programs, consumer promotions, online communications and consumer facilitation to achieve the tourism goals of the nation.

Akay Travel offers real time online booking service

Alp Sargin, Market Maganer, Akay Travel Service mentions “We operate as a DMC in Turkey for 45 years and provide meeting & greeting services, transfers, excursions, hotels and air tickets.

We are now offering all af our services we do as Akay Travel in real time online booking via our online platforms www.flyistanbul.com  and www.flyantalya.com . In these platforms we provide dynamic packaging, which is combining at least hotel+flight together to benefit from our local power&prices. We also provide meeting&greeting at the airport unlike other onliners. 

2-     We are attending Riyadh to promote more our online platforms. We know our Middle Eastern brothers are using technology in everyday life and we are sure that we can satisfy their needs with quality service, good price and faster way.

3-     Last year the trend  was to find subsidy resorts to Turkey, but who have been to Turkey before is not satisfied with any other country. So the trend is now back again to go where you enjoy and where you get the service quality you are looking for.

4-     2016 was a hard year in Turkey. The pax decrease and price decrease combined with partners having financial problems effected us but not harshly as we are a strong rooted company and comparing to general we did good because we have variety of markets.

5-     Comparing to last we year we expect and we are seeing that demand and bookings have been increasing drastically, So we are gladly expecting to host more guests this year.

6-     It will be our pleasure to welcome everyone to our stand at D-3, near Turkish Pavillion. We are offering the beauties of our country under the best service quality and with best prices. We are a responsive team thriving over 45 years, we have been helping large back to back operations as well a FITs, Mice, VIP customers, online partners. We are the partner, we are the host for Turkey! “

Orange County, California promotes OClassic Campagin for Middle Eastern Car Lovers!

Orange County California has a deep and abiding love affair with cars - whether they're fast, exotic or classic. From huge international auto shows featuring the latest exotics to smaller, vintage-only exhibits, Orange County California auto shows have something for everybody -- car enthusiasts, restorers and buyers alike. The OC’s love of cars goes way beyond car shows as well, with the filming of the first part of the popular Fast & Furious franchise being in Orange County California and also numerous museums dedicated to classic and luxury cars. 

Orange County Visitors Association promotes the Middle East exclusive OClassic packages that include free passes to a classic and/or vintage car fairs held in the OC, a one day classic car rental self- drive experience along the stunning Southern California coastline, complimentary VIP shopping experiences and exclusive discounts worth over $2,000 at the OC's premier shopping destinations, and luxury accommodation.